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“Does that maid have nine lives?”

The second Prince also frowned slightly, perhaps unpleasant.

“This woman is ……… ……?”

“She’s a servant brought here by Lady Dana.”

“I see.”

The second Prince said as he looked at Claire, who was lying on the floor, drenched by the rain.

“In the meantime, let’s move inside ……………….”

I nodded.

While we were talking, Claire was still on the cold, rain-soaked floor.

If we left her like that, even healthy people were going to get sick, and the second Prince had his servants send Claire inside. The people were buzzing with anxiety as the situation became more serious with the appearance of the royal family.

Claire’s maid followed her with a tearful face.

“One moment, please.”

“….?”

The servant looked at me as if to ask what was wrong.

The servant’s gaze on me was subdued but clearly hostile.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“My Lady has been bullied at the place where she was formally invited, and she even had this accident. We still haven’t caught the person who tried to harm her, so of course I should be by her side.”

The servant said with a look of resentment on her face as she was aware of the second Prince by her side.

The second Prince watched the situation in silence. He didn’t show any particular reaction when he heard what the maid said.

It was fortunate that it was not the Crown Prince who was here now, but the second Prince. Unlike the Crown Prince, who blamed the other party without any back and forth when it came to Claire, the second Prince seemed calm.

I turned my attention to the maid again. If Claire was acting out, the odds of her being alone were slim.

On top of that, the face of the maid looked very familiar.

She seemed to be a follower of Claire’s since she brought her along almost every time. If that was the case, then there was a big chance Claire’s maid was also involved.

So …… I couldn’t just let it go.

“You said you were sure someone had pushed Lady Dana down the stairs. Do you have proof?”

“What? What kind of proof…?”

“It means either physical proof that can be proven, or someone who saw Lady Dana fall down the stairs.”

The maid fell silent with a troubled look on her face, as if at a loss for words.

“You don’t seem to have any.”

“!”

The people looked at the maid and began to whisper.

I turned my eyes numbly to Lady Evans. Lady Evans, who had been frozen and only looking at me, made a small movement when her eyes met mine.

“Lady Evans, since today’s incident took place in your house, it would be better for your family to take responsibility for the investigation. In the circumstances, the most suspicious person is this maid, so it’s better to interrogate her.”

Lady Evans nodded with a reassuring look at my words.

“I didn’t do anything!”

The maid, who was suddenly being treated like a criminal, exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise. Perhaps she had never thought of being considered a suspect in this situation.

“How can I believe you? Maybe you hurt Lady Dana and pretend you don’t know.”

“Absolutely not! How could I do such a thing to My Lady?”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find out something when we investigate.”

Perhaps she didn’t expect such a situation, the maid’s face went blank.

She looked around with a nervous face and turned her gaze to the second Prince.

“Your Highness! It’s unfair.”

The maid complained through tears.

With a scared face with tears, the maid shouting, “It’s unfair,” looked very pitiful.

However, there was no change in the expression of the second Prince at the sight of her. His appearance seemed a bit calm, which was not a bad thing for me.

If it was the Crown Prince who was here, things would be different now.

I said mockingly.

“Aren’t you the only one who was with Lady Dana before and after the accident happened?”

“I…….”

“If it’s really unfair, you can tell us in detail what’s going on during the investigation and cooperate to catch the criminal. Your Highness, don’t you think so?”

I looked at the second Prince. He nodded with an amused look on his face.

“You have a point. Take her away.”

When even the trusted second Prince turned away from her, the maid looked desperate. Soon, by order of the second Prince, the servants took Claire’s maid away.

I stared at the scene.

I don’t know how they will treat the maid who tried to cause damage to Lady Evans.

Maybe they would never treat her warmly.

Whether it was Count Evans or Lady Evans, neither of them were gentle and calm. Who knew what would happen during the interrogation process.

However, if an accident were to occur during the interrogation process, the entire responsibility would fall on Count Evans.

It had nothing to do with me.

It may have been cruel to the maid, but she brought it on herself in the first place.

Claire was lying in her room and wouldn’t really know what was going on now. However, I was curious to see how she would react when she woke up and realized that her loyal maid had been taken away as a prime suspect.

The sky grew darker and darker.

The rain, which I had expected to stop soon, showed no signs of stopping.

As time went by, the rain intensified.

The parasol didn’t help much after all. It was soaked by the rain and was already ruined.

When the second Prince saw me, he quietly tilted the umbrella toward me.

“It’s okay. My maid has gone to get the umbrella and will be right back.”

“Use mine until then. The umbrella is big enough to cover the two of us.”

Unlike what he said, the umbrella was large, but not enough to completely cover the two of us.

Because he tilted the umbrella too far in my direction, the second Prince was almost completely covered by the rain.

I noticed that one of his shoulders was getting wetter and wetter.

Fortunately, Annie came back from the carriage with an umbrella.

When Annie saw me and the second Prince together, she looked a little surprised and held the umbrella out to me. I looked at the second Prince and asked.

“I’m going home now. What do you intend to do, Your Highness?”

“I’m going to go home, too, now that my business is done.”

“I see. Well then, goodbye.”

“One moment, please.”

“…?”

I turned around with a strange look on my face, and the second Prince held out his arm to me, the one that wasn’t wet from the rain.

“…I will take you home.”

“Your Highness?”

I asked with a blank look on my face, to which the second Prince replied skillfully.

“Isn’t this a situation where the culprit who tried to kill Lady Dana still hasn’t been caught yet? He might be dangerous, so I’ll take you.”

Even the second Prince must have noticed that there was something wrong with the current situation.

If someone tried to kill Claire intentionally and the culprit has not been caught yet, the second Prince’s side would be the safest.

I was grateful that he didn’t blame me like others, but to escort me home?

Couldn’t he see the knight behind me? I pondered for a moment, then placed my hand on his arm. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

I climbed onto the carriage he had come in, escorted by the second Prince. The second Prince’s carriage was distinctly different from the Crown Prince’s. It wasn’t visibly fancy, but it was elegantly neat and refined.

While I sat on a comfortable chair, the second Prince lightly wiped the water from his head and clothes and then sat down.

As I sat across from him, I could easily see his soaking wet hair and clothes. A little concerned, I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to him.

“It’s my fault you’re wet. Please wipe it off with this.”

The second Prince smiled softly as if to say thank you, then used the handkerchief I had given him to wipe the moisture from his face and hands. I felt the same way when I saw him before… he certainly had a beautiful face. The well-defined forehead, the high bridge of the nose, the sharp jawline. White skin, deep eyes.

And his silvery hair was wet, giving him a strangely sexy atmosphere. I caught sight of the second Prince’s white neck, which had appeared due to some of the top buttons of his uniform being undone.

Looking at him, I felt as if I was committing a crime. Despite my intention not to look, I kept looking. Then I involuntarily turned my head away.

“I will wash the handkerchief and return it to you later.”

“All right. But may I ask why you’re here?”

It wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t answer, but the second Prince spoke more honestly than I expected.

“His Majesty ordered something. Originally, the Crown Prince was supposed to come, but the schedule suddenly changed, so I came instead.”

So that was what happened after all. If the person who was there earlier was not the second Prince, but the Crown Prince, the situation would have been very different from now.

However, it seemed that Claire hadn’t heard about the change in the person visiting the Evans’ residence today.

The thought of Claire collapsing in pity and the Crown Prince getting angry on her behalf made me uncomfortable and I frowned a little.

“Are you disappointed that I came instead of the Crown Prince?”

“…?”

At the unexpected question, I turned my head and looked at the second Prince.

“…Are you disappointed that the Crown Prince did not come?”

One side of my mouth naturally twisted in an unpleasant misunderstanding.

“Not at all.” I answered coldly.

I glanced at the second Prince, wondering later if I had offended him with my insolence.

The face of the second Prince looking out the window was somewhat pleasant. Perhaps things were worse between the Crown Prince and the second Prince than I had thought. Come to think of it, the deeper the feud between me and the Crown Prince, the better it was for the second Prince.

So his reaction now was probably natural.

The second Prince smiled strangely when his eyes met mine. I couldn’t understand what he was thinking right now. When I returned home, the servants looked at the second Prince’s carriage and the imperial knights he had brought with him with surprised eyes.

“Well then, take care. I’ll be leaving now.”

“Yes. Thank you for giving me a ride.”

“Yes. See you later.”

The second Prince greeted me politely and then left. I gazed vaguely at the carriage he was riding in, and returned to my room.

****

The rain, which I expected to stop soon, continued until the next day.

It had been raining all morning and finally stopped in the afternoon.

The dark clouds had cleared and the sky was exceptionally clear.

I sat by the window in the warm sunshine and drank tea.

A cool breeze was coming in through the open window.

I emptied my tea cup and looked out the window.

The garden smelled of clear earth, and puddles of water had collected where the rain had fallen heavily. As I sat still on the couch, Tien walked in and looked surprised when she saw me.

“Young lady, why are you so relaxed? We need to get ready early now so we can arrive without delay.”

At Tien’s nagging, I had no choice but to get up from my seat. Today was the day the Empress had summoned me to the Imperial Palace.